DDFA Officers and Contact Information — Dreisbach-Dresbach Family Association

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2024 Officers of the Dreisbach-Dresbach Family Association

Bob Kendrick - President: robert.j.kendrick@comcast.net

Bethany Dresback - Treasurer and Membership: DDFAtreasurer@gmail.com

Marcia Dreisbach Falconer - DDFA Newsletter editor, Co-webmaster: dreisbachfamilyassociation@gmail.com

Rachel Meyer - Co-webmaster, Coordinator of Dreisbach-Dresbach Surname Y-DNA Project: rachel.gen@twc.com

Robert Smith - Dreisbach-Dresbach genealogy data base manager: cosmithb@msn.com

David Falconer - Tribal Pages DDFA website manager: ddfalconer@gmail.com

Ardis Dreisbach Grosjean - DERR author, Simon Dreisbach line genealogist: ardis.grosjean@gmail.com

Ann Wohlhueter - Martin DreisbachDresbach line genealogist: awohlhueter67@gmail.com

DDFA President, Bob Kendrick: Thinking about my heritage, I’m reminded how lucky I am to be part of such an interesting family. I was born in Allentown, PA. and I have 2 younger sisters. I well remember Saturdays at the Allentown farmers market and waiting for that late-summer Fair Week to arrive. My wife Patti and I enjoy being outside, reading, travel, golf – we have fun.

I can trace my ancestry to Simon Dreisbach Jr. Here is the story:

Simon Jr’s daughter, Mary Catharine Dreisbach, married George Butz. (See DDFA Newsletter 2015 - Taverns and Inn Keepers – thank you Marcia and Ardis). Their daughter, Lydia, married Joseph Keller. They had a son Samuel Stokes who served in the Civil War as a Captain commanding Co. H, 176th Regiment, Penna. Samuel married Mary Ann Dech. They had a daughter Clara, who married the Hon. Marcus C. L. Kline, U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania 13th District, 1903-07. They had 2 children, Edwin and Althea Lucille. Althea Lucille married Claude Grim Shankweiler and they had 2 children, Kathryn Kline and Lewis Kline. Kathryn Kline Shankweiler married Melvin Leroy Heydt. They had 2 children, Sally Ann and Patricia Ann.

I am Sally Ann’s son.

DDFA Treasurer:

My name is Bethany Dresback. I was born in, and still reside in, Central Ohio. My parents, Tod and Wanda, have been active in the DDFA for many years. I have one older brother who lives in Iowa. I work for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in parks and watercraft. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family, friends, and animals. I have 3 dogs and 1 cat. I also enjoy traveling and being outside.

My ancestry can be traced through Simon Dreisbach, Jr.

DDFA Newsletter editor, Co-webmaster:

My paternal Dreisbach line goes back to Simon Dreisbach Sr through his youngest son, John. My family has a history of Dreisbach genealogists. My great grandfather, Ammon Dreisbach, conceived the idea of the Dreisbach Family Association which met for the first time in 1910. My grandfather, Robert Dreisbach, was president of the DFA in the 1930's, at a time when the association became inactive - possibly due to the desire to not be associated with Germany. During and after WWII, the DFA lay dormant for many years. My sister, Ardis Dreisbach Grosjean, is the Simon line genealogist.

In 1995, Ardis, our first cousin, Jack Dreisbach, along with our distant cousins, Father Charles Dreisbach (also a descendant of John Dreisbach), Bill Dreisbach and others, rejuvenated the DFA. In 2010 the name was expanded to the Dreisbach-Dresbach Family Association to take into account the many descendants of 1751 immigrant, Martin Dreisbach, who spell their surname with an "e" instead of an "ei". It was also made clear that the DDFA welcomes anyone with any spelling of our surname (and there are many interesting versions) as well as anyone who is interested in our family history.

But you might ask, where am I, Marcia Dreisbach Falconer, in all this? Truthfully, for years I was not interested in genealogy. In 1965 I married David Falconer and in 1980 we moved to his native Ontario, Canada. There we raised our son, Ian, and daughter, Leah. There, too, I went back to university. many years after receiving my BSc. I studied cell biology and received an MSc and a PhD. After a post-doc at MIT I had a small research laboratory that worked on developing a way to treat 'orphan' diseases using cell biology techniques. I was interested in science, not in genealogy. Then I retired.

In 2007 my sister dragooned me into attending a DDFA Reunion in Lewisburg, PA. As I listened, I realized there was a whole world of family-related things and stories that I knew nothing about. The next thing I knew, I had volunteered to be the program chair for the 2007 reunion. Then I became co-chair of the 2010 reunion along with my sister, Ardis Dreisbach Grosjean. This reunion celebrated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the DDFA.

Sometime during these years, I realized the genealogy bug had bitten me. I was permanently hooked and found genealogy research even more fascinating than the research I'd done in cell biology. I wanted to let everyone know about the interesting genealogy we were discovering and became editor of the DDFA newsletter.

Over the past few years published four Dreisbach related books: one about my paternal grandparents, The Family of Nora and Robert Dreisbach. One about Simon Dreisbach Jr who was deeply involved in the Revolutionary War, Simon Dreisbach Jr, (1730-1806), A Most Interesting Life. Another book was about the ancestor of most (but not all) Ohio Dresbachs, The Life and Times of Martin Dreisbach (1717-1799), and just recently my sister and I published a book about the early lands of the Simon Dreisbach family, The First Dreisbach Tracts in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1747-1806. I am now writing a novel based on the life of Jost Dreisbach (1721-1794), a grist miller and the oldest son of Simon Dreisbach Sr.

As I grow older, I am delighted to see the DDFA finding new life as its center moves from Pennsylvania to Ohio. My hope is that the DDFA will continue to grow and evolve and be a place where we can get to know our distant cousins as well as a place that will enlarge our genealogy horizons.

Cheers, Marcia Dreisbach Falconer